The Success of Krono? It Has Come to EverQuest

Krono, SOE’s version of PLEX, which they introduced back in October, seems to have taken root.  Back then they announced that they would keep an eye on it, and if things went well they would introduce it into other SOE games.

Well it has come to EverQuest, which I guess means things are, in fact, going well for Krono.

EverQuest Krono

As with EverQuest II, there is a FAQ for Krono on the EverQuest site detailing its integration with the game, cost, and so on.

I took a peek at Krono prices yesterday on the three EverQuest II servers where I have characters, and the market price seems to have remained stable, though supply varied from server to server.  When I first looked at Freeport it was around 650p.  Yesterday I saw:

Freeport Server

• 80 Krono for sale from 19 different sellers
• Likely price you will pay – 600p

Guk Server

• 31 Krono for sale from 15 different sellers
• Likely price you will pay – 750p

Crushbone Server

• 18 Krono for sale from 10 different sellers
• Likely price you will pay – 750p

Those servers represent different population levels, with Freeport being the most active of the three.  So I suspect that if you visited the Antonia Bayle, pricing and availability would be closer to the Freeport range, while lower population servers would likely be in the range of the other two.

And, as I noted before, at that price Krono is cheaper than RMT currency prices for EverQuest II, when you can find them.  EverQuest II is not popular with RMT vendors, and has probably grown less so with the introduction of Krono.

But will that be the case for EverQuest?

The EverQuest market has been on a down slide for the last couple of years, with people willing to camp characters in the Bazaar 24/7 dwindling to a shadow of former days the last time I logged into Luclin.

However, in addition to raising the level cap to 100 and continued opportunities to kill off halflings, the Rain of Fear expansion also introduced offline selling in the Bazaar.  No longer do you have to log in a character to setup shop and sit there in order to peddle your wares.  That alone will probably revive the marketplace in EverQuest somewhat and help make Krono more viable.

The other question is the price of Krono.  EverQuest has seen nearly Weimar Republic levels of inflation over the years due to various issues.

Okay, maybe it hasn’t been that bad, but prices of things in later expansions seem to be adjusted for the decreased value of the platinum coin, making items you can vendor for a couple of copper feel like they are not worth the effort.

What will the price of Krono be on the EverQuest servers?  And how will that related to the RMT price?  I have not had a chance to check.

Of course, one of the things that might help Krono along is that for certain scenarios, buying Krono is cheaper than renewing your subscription.  At least if you are using it to renew your SOE All Access Pass.

Anyway, the Krono experiment presses onward as SOE attempts to bring a PLEX-like offering to its customers while killing off what remains of the RMT market servicing their games.  I expect we will see Krono in Vanguard by Summer.

Would you want to see something like PLEX/Krono put in place by other publishers?